Ali Kermani ('09)

Ali Kermani (‘09) is a product designer, brand manager, and VP of Digital Media at Razor USA LLC, where he has been working since the company’s founding in 2000. Ali currently oversees numerous aspects of Razor’s product development and marketing efforts. Ali is also the president of Acoustic Productions, a B2B video production company that he started while in his second year at UCLA Anderson.

Ali’s influence can be found on many products Razor brings to market, though his most notable work has been related to a product called the “Crazy Cart”. After three years of trying to convince Razor to launch the Crazy Cart with no progress, he left Razor in 2007 to begin his education at UCLA Anderson. The Crazy Cart soon became the focus of Ali’s time at Anderson and eventually developed into his Master’s thesis project. By the time he graduated in 2009 Ali had re-engineered his product into a more market ready item, filed his provisional patent application, built a working prototype, and was courting prospective investors.

Finding renewed willingness to try the item at Razor, Ali ultimately decided to partner with Razor and in July of 2013 the Razor Crazy Cart launched as an exclusive at Toys“R”Us. Using his resources at Acoustic Productions, he created two promotional videos that went viral and effectively drove a complete sell through of all 30,000 units Toys“R”Us had purchased before Christmas.

In February 2014, one day before Toys“R”Us presented Razor with their 2013 Vendor of the Year award, the Toy Industry Association awarded the Crazy Cart a T.O.T.Y. award, naming it the 2014 Outdoor Toy of the Year.

Currently, Ali’s days are divided between growing the Crazy Cart craze and building a new digital media department at Razor that is focused on strategically leveraging online video content to drive awareness and sales of select products.